Kevin Youkilis has had a rough start to his 2012 season. He's hitting .200/.265/.223, and the Red Sox are 3-5. (CLARIFICATION: They were 3-5 when Valentine gave this quote. They're 4-5 now.) But it's the smallest of sample sizes, and the Red Sox got off to a bad start last year and everything worked out almost perfectly, so there's no reason to fret, right, new level-headed manager Bobby Valentine?

I don't think he's as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past for some reason. But [on Saturday] it seemed, you know, he's seeing the ball well, got those two walks, got his on-base percentage up higher than his batting average, which is always a good thing, and he'll move on from there.

On Opening Day, David Ortiz said the Red Sox had a chance to change things around from last season. He was right. The Red Sox are changing things. They're putting a smiling face on their newly transparent smear campaign!